NAME

Bipolar Junction
Transistors

PICTURE

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

MEANING
Bipolar Junction Transistors are transistors which are
made up of 3 regions, the base, the collector, and the
emitter. Bipolar Junction transistors, unlike FET
transistors, are current-controlled devices. A small
current entering in the base region of the transistor
causes a much larger current flow from the emitter to
the collector region.
Bipolar junction transistors come in two main types,
NPN and PNP. A NPN transistor is one in which the
majority current carrier are electrons. Electron flowing
from the emitter to the collector forms the base of the
majority of current flow through the transistor. The
other type of charge, holes, are a minority. PNP
transistors are the opposite. In PNP transistors, the
majority current carrier are holes.
Overall, bipolar junction transistors are the only type of
transistor which is turned on by current input (input into
the base). This is because BJTs have the lowest input
impedance of all transistors. The low impedance (or
resistance) allows current to flow through the base of
the transistor. Because of this low impedance also do
BJTs have the highest amplification of all transistors.
The downside of BJTs is because they have low input
impedance, they can cause loading in a circuit. Loading
is when a device can draw significant current from a
circuit, thus disturbing a circuit's power source.

Field Effect
Transistors

Field Effect Transistors are transistors which are made

up of 3 regions, a gate, a source, and a drain. Unlike
bipolar transistors, FETs are voltage-controlled devices.
A voltage placed at the gate controls current flow from
the source to the drain of the transistor.
Field Effect transistors have very high input impedance,
from several megohms (M) of resistance to much,
much larger values. This high input impedance causes
them to have very little current run through them.
(According to ohm's law, current is inversely affected
by the value of the impedance of the circuit. If the
impedance is high, the current is very low.) So FETs
both draw very little current from a circuit's power
source. Thus, this is ideal because they don't disturb the
original circuit's power elements to which they are
connected to. They won't cause the power source to be
loaded down. The drawback of FETs is that they won't
provide the same amplification that could be gotten
from bipolar transistors. Bipolar transistors are superior
in the fact that they provide greater amplification, even
though FETs are better in that they cause less loading,
are cheaper, and easier to manufacture.
Field Effect Transistors come in 2 main types: JFETs
and MOSFETs. JFETs and MOSFETs are very similar
but MOSFETs have even higher input impedance
values than JFETs. This causes even less loading in a
circuit.

Small Signal
Transistors

Small Signal Transistors are transistors that are used

primarily to amplify low-level signals but can also
function well as switches.
Transistors come with a value, called the hFE values,
which denotes how greatly a transistor can amplify
input signals. Typical hFE values for small signal
transistors range from 10 to 500, with maximum Ic
(collector current) ratings from about 80 to 600mA.
They come in NPN and PNP forms. Maximum
operating frequencies range from about 1 to 300 MHz.
As a design note, small signal transistors are used
primarily when amplifying small signals, such as a few
volts and only when using milliamperes of current.
When using larger voltage and current (larger power),
using many volts or amperes of current, a power
transistor should be used.

Small Switching
Transistors

Small Switching Transistors are transistors that are used

primarily as switches but which can also be used as
amplifiers. Typical hFE values for small switching
transistors range from 10 to 200, with maximum Ic
ratings from about 10 to 1000mA. They come in NPN
and PNP forms.
In terms of for design, small switching transistors are
used primarily as switches. Though they may be used as
an amplifier, their hFE value only ranges to about 200,
which means they are not capable of the amplification
of small signal transistors, which can have
amplification of up to 500. This makes small switching
transistors more useful for switching, though they may
be used as basic amplifiers to provide gain. When you
need more gain, small signal transistors would work
better as amplifiers.

Power Transistors

Power transistors are suited for applications where a lot

of power is being used- current and voltage.
The collector of the transistor is connected to a metal
base that acts as a heat sink to dissipate excess power.
Typical power ratings range from around 10 to 300 W,
with frequency ratings from about 1 to 100 MHz.
Maximum Ic values range between 1 to 100 A. Power
transistors come in NPN, PNP, and Darlington (NPN or
PNP) forms.

High Frequency
Transistors

High Frequency (RF) Transistors are transistors that are

used for small signals that run at high frequencies for
high-speed switching applications.
These are transistors that are used for high frequency
signals and must be able to switch on and off at very
high speeds. High frequency transistors are used in HF,
VHF, UHF, CATV, and MATV amplifier and oscillator
applications. They have a maximum frequency rating of
about 2000 MHz and maximum Ic currents from 10 to
600mA. They are available in both npn and pnp forms.

Phototransistors

Phototransistors are light-sensitive transistors.

A common type of phototransistor resembles a bipolar
transistor with its base lead removed and replaced with
a light-sensitive area. This is why a phototransistor has
only 2 terminals instead of the usual 3. When this
surface area is kept dark, the device is off. Practically,
no current flows from the collector to emitter region.
However, when the light-sensitive region is exposed to
light, a small base current is generated that controls a
much larger collector-to-emitter current.
Just like regular transistors, phototransistors can be both
bipolar or field effect transistors. Field-effect
phototransistors (photoFETs) are light-sensitive fieldeffect transistors. Unlike photobipolar transistors,
photoFETs use light to generate a gate voltage that is
used to control a drain-source current. PhotoFETs are
extremely sensitive to variations in light and are more

fragile, electrically speaking, than bipolar

phototransistors.

Unijunction
Transistors

Unijunction transistors are three-lead transistors that act

exclusively as electrically controlled switches; they are
not used as amplifiers.
This differs from other transistors in that general
transistors usually provide the ability to act as a switch
and also as a an amplifier. But a unijunction transistor
does not provide any decent type of amplification
because of the way it is constructed. It's simply not
designed to provide a sufficient voltage or current
boost.
The three leads of a unijunction transistor are B1, B2,
and an emitter lead, which is the lead which receives
the input current. The basic operation of a UJT is
relatively simple. When no potential difference
(voltage) exists between its emitter and either of its
base leads (B1 or B2), only a very small current flows
from B2 to B1. However, if a sufficiently large positive
trigger voltage- relative to its base leads- is applied to
the emitter, a larger current flows from the emitter and
combines with the small B2-to-B1 current, thus giving
rise to large B1 output current. Unlike other transistorswhere the control leads provide little additional currentthe UJT is just the opposite. Its emitter current is the
primary source of current for the transistor. The B2 to
B1 current is only a very small amount of the total
combined current. This means that unijunction
transistors are not suitable for amplification purposes,
but only for switching.